The Roses of Heliogabalus
The Roses of Heliogabalusis an 1888 painting by the Anglo-Dutch artistSir Lawrence Alma-Tademadepicting the young Roman emperorElagabalus(203–222 AD) hosting a banquet.
Subject[edit]
The painting measures 132.7 × 214.4 centimetres (52.2 × 84.4 in). It shows a group of Roman diners at a banquet, being swamped by drifts of pinkrose petalsfalling from a false ceiling above. The youthful Roman emperorElagabalus,wearing a goldensilkrobe and tiara, watches the spectacle from a platform behind them,[1][2]with other garlanded guests. A woman plays thedouble pipesbeside a marble pillar in the background, wearing the leopard skin of amaenad,with a bronze statue ofDionysus,based on theLudovisi Dionysus,in front of a view of distant hills.
The painting depicts a (probably invented) episode in the life of the Roman emperor Elagabalus, also known as Heliogabalus, taken from theAugustan History.Although theLatinrefers to "violetsand other flowers ", Alma-Tadema depicts Elagabalus smothering his unsuspecting guests with rose petals released from a false ceiling. The original reference is this:
Oppressit in tricliniis versatilibus parasitos suos violis et floribus, sic ut animam aliqui efflaverint, cum erepere ad summum non possent.[3]
In a banqueting-room with a reversible ceiling he once buried his guests in violets and other flowers, so that some were actually smothered to death, being unable to crawl out to the top.[4]
In his notes to theAugustan History,Magie notes that "Nerodid this also (Suetonius, Nero, xxxi), and a similar ceiling in the house ofTrimalchiois described inPetronius,Sat., lx. "(Satyricon).[5]
History[edit]
The painting was commissioned bySir John Aird, 1st Baronetfor £4,000 in 1888. As roses were out of season in theUnited Kingdom,Alma-Tadema is reputed to have had rose petals sent from thesouth of Franceeach week during the four months in which it was painted.[6]
The painting was exhibited at theRoyal Academy summer exhibitionin 1888. Aird died in 1911, and the painting was inherited by his son SirJohn Richard Aird, 2nd Baronet.After Alma-Tadema died in 1912, the painting was exhibited at a memorial exhibition at the Royal Academy in 1913, the last time it was seen at a public exhibition in the UK until 2014.
Alma-Tadema's reputation declined markedly in the decades after his death. Following the death of the 2nd Baronet in 1934, the painting was sold by his son, the 3rd Baronet, in 1935 for 483guineas.It failed to sell atChristie'sin 1960 and was "bought in" by the auction house for 100 guineas.[citation needed]Next, it was acquired byAllen Funt:he was the producer ofCandid Cameraand a collector of Alma-Tadema's at a time when the artist remained very unfashionable. After Funt experienced financial troubles, he sold the painting along with the rest of his collection atSotheby'sin London in November 1973, achieving a price of £28,000. The painting was sold again by American collectorFrederick Kochat Christie's in London in June 1993 for £1,500,000.[7][8]It is currently owned by the Spanish-Mexican billionaire businessman and art collectorJuan Antonio Pérez Simón.[9][10][11]
Exhibitions[edit]
- The painting was included in an exhibition at theMetropolitan Museum of Artin New York in March and April 1973 (when the owner was Allen Funt).[12]
- The painting is part of a private collection but was on display from 14 November 2014 to 29 March 2015 at theLeighton House Museumin London as part of the exhibitionA Victorian Obsession: The Pérez Simón collection at Leighton House Museum,the first time since Alma-Tadema's memorial exhibition at theRoyal Academyin 1913, that it has been exhibited in London.[13]It returned to the Leighton House Museum from 7 July to 29 October 2017 for the exhibition "Alma-Tadema: At Home in Antiquity."[14]
- The painting was a part of an exhibition ofLawrence Alma-Tadema's paintings inBelvedere, Vienna,Austria from 24 February 2017 to 18 June 2017.[15]
- La Pluie de roses D'Héliogabaleis a separate yet similar painting, recorded to have been displayed at the 1880Paris Salon,done by an artist under the name A. Heullant, likely Félix Armand Heullant.[16]
References[edit]
- ^"Alma Tadema--The Roses of Heliogabalus".penelope.uchicago.edu.Retrieved30 November2018.
- ^"The Legend of a 'Bachelor'-style Rose Ceremony That Turned Lethal".atlasobscura. 5 January 2016.Retrieved30 November2018.
- ^"Historia Augusta • Vita Heliogabali (Pars II)".
- ^"Historia Augusta • Life of Elagabalus (Part 2 of 2)".
- ^"Historia Augusta • Life of Elagabalus (Part 2 of 2)".
- ^From ‘Riches to Rags to Riches’,ArtNews, 1 January 2011
- ^A Victorian Obsession: The Pérez Simón Collection’ at the Leighton House Museum,Financial Times, 14 November 2014
- ^A Moral Critique of The Roses of Heliogabalus,Frederick W. Farrar, VictorianWeb
- ^Kennedy, Maev(2 June 2014)."Quiet billionaire's Victorian art collection loaned to Leighton House".The Guardian.Retrieved14 February2015.
- ^Kennedy, Maev (13 November 2014)."Victorian art 'comes home' to London house".The Guardian.Retrieved14 February2015.
- ^Bugler, Caroline (13 November 2014)."Lord Leighton RA and the Victorian ideal of female beauty: Objects of desire".London:Royal Academy of Arts.Retrieved14 February2015.
- ^Exhibition of Paintings by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema Opens at Metropolitan Museum,press release, March 1973
- ^"A Victorian Obsession: The Pérez Simón collection at Leighton House Museum".London:Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.Retrieved14 February2015.
- ^"Alma-Tadema: At Home in Antiquity".Leighton House Museum.Retrieved3 August2017.
- ^"Lawrence Alma-Tadema. Decadence & Antiquity".Vienna, Austria.
- ^Dumas, F.G. (François Guillaume) (1880).Catalogue illustré Du Salon.Getty Research Institute. L. Baschet. p. 286.
